Budget Tele-Townhall For Northern Residents
Prince George, BC – Over the next two nights, residents living in Northern and Coastal BC may have the opportunity to participate in a telephone townhall meeting on the upcoming provincial budget.
Approximately 65-thousand residents will be randomly for the tele-townhall with BC Finance Minister Mike de Jong between 7pm and 8pm this evening and again tomorrow night.
Residents living in the following postal code areas may receive a phone call in advance of tonight's meeting: V0J, V0L, V0N, V0T, V0V, V8A, V8C, V8G, V8J.
Tomorrow night, the tele-townhall will target residents in the following postal codes: V0C, V0K, V0W, V1G, V1J, V2G, V2J, V2K, V2L, V2M, V2N.
Ministry officials advise that if you want to participate, stay on the line and follow the instructions given in the recorded message. If you don't, just hang up.
Some of the participants will be given the opportunity to ask the Finance Minister questions.
The tele-townhalls are part of the consultation process being billed as a chance to "give British Columbians the opportunity to discuss their priorities for Balanced Budget 2014."
Comments
This project should be filed under the heading **Bull Crap**
Isn’t this what people are always asking for? To have more say?
When you have people already dismissing the whole thing as ‘bull crap’ it’s no wonder that governments just go ahead and do whatever they want. They can’t win, so why try?
JohnnyBelt. 65000 people picked at random from various Postal Codes, to talk to De Jong about the up coming budget??
Whats the chances of having anything on any importance discussed at any length.
Perhaps we should have our locally elected representatives having some input into the budget, and perhaps they could also meet with local citizens to discuss the budget.
In fact, maybe our local representatives, along with some others could put pressure on the Government to actually sit in the legislature, and discuss the forthcoming budget, and give the opposition, the press, and others some input.
Having these phone in sessions, is merely a way to give the impression of inclusion.
We are paying millions of dollars for these politicians to do their job , and do it correctly. If the best they can do is have a phone is session, then they should resign.
There is no doubt that the budget is already in place, and this is nothing more than a dog and pony show.
“Perhaps we should have our locally elected representatives having some input into the budget, and perhaps they could also meet with local citizens to discuss the budget.”
Some would say that their voices aren’t really being heard as we’re relying on our local representative to communicate our wishes. How do local representatives communicate ideas from consituents that differ?
This is one way to hear from the people directly. No, it is not perfect. But that is not a reason to dismiss it as ** bull crap **.
Of course the budget was in place over 5 years ago. They have to add detail and projections to it, nothing is set in stone until it becomes the present day document.
A Finance Minister who wants to find out what random people would like to see in the budget is always a bad thing… if you are an NDPer, you would rather have them alienated from the public. The critic will have something to say, like the calls were all set up, etc.
âThe committee would like to hear British Columbiansâ priorities and financial concerns for next yearâs provincial budget,â he says.
âWe encourage any interested individuals and organizations to attend a public hearing or to make a submission,â adds Deputy Chair Mike Farnworth.
This year, the consultation process will include 17 public hearings in various B.C. communities, as well as video conference sessions for an additional four locations, including Fort St. John. The public is encouraged to provide input on the issue by attending the public hearings, sending a written submission, or responding to an online survey. The deadline for public input is October 16, 2013 and the Committee will release its report by November 15.
To register for the upcoming hearings, contact the Parliamentary Committee Office by either calling 1-877-428-8337 or by emailing FinanceCommittee@leg.bc.ca by September 10.”
The committee being referred to is the Select Standing Committee on Finances and Government Services. They go throughout the province and seek public input on the coming years budget every year.
There is already ample “official” opportunities to provide public input to the budget that goes on public record. I agree with Palopu, this budget tele-town hall is an un-necessary unofficial exercise.
Got a canned phone call from this clown tonight… of course there is no way to demand my right to telephone privacy….being a politcal clown he can call all he likes and disturb your life, DO NOT CALL REGISTRY lets them.
This whole thing is a dog and pony show…make a big preformance, a lot of noise, make it look like they care and do what they want anyways…so why bother ….
in my opinion the most intellligent thing de Jong can say is “NOTHING”.
“Whats the chances of having anything on any importance discussed at any length”
from reading these posts it looks like they have a better chance of reaching someone who will hang up on them and then complain about not having a say…
They called my house tonight for tomorrow nights session. I’ll gladly answer and give them my two bits if given the chance.
Posted by: Eagleone on November 18 2013 6:25 PM
They called my house tonight for tomorrow nights session. I’ll gladly answer and give them my two bits if given the chance.
————–
Same here. I’m looking forward to the discussion.
Interceptor: “from reading these posts it looks like they have a better chance of reaching someone who will hang up on them and then complain about not having a say…”
That pretty much sums it up.
Comments for this article are closed.